Use Azure Time Series Insights to Analyze IoT Data

You will learn how to set up an Internet of Things (IoT) data solution in Microsoft Azure for time series insights and analysis. You will research the IoT hub and endpoint connection strings and add three devices to the hub. Then you will customize a Storage Account and Azure's Time Series Insight's explorer to view, query, store, and download IoT data. Finally, you will create simulated device data, display the results in the time series tool, and save the captured data to your Storage Account.

This guided hands-on experience will ready learners who have used a graphical user interface (GUI) to understand how to use Azure Time Series Insights for IoT data analysis. Lab participants should plan on a full forty-five minutes to complete the lab, in one sitting. Users cannot stop the lab midway but can take the lab more than once. The lab sets learners up with an Azure resource group, app service plan, web app, Storage Account, and IoT lab, so learners have the tools needed to succeed with lab exercises.

Knowing how to leverage Azure services to capture IoT analysis impacts core skills as System Administrators, Network Engineers, IoT Solutions Engineers, and Cybersecurity Operations Specialists. IoT spans a wide range of networked industries and devices, from your thermostat to body cams and Fitbit. All generate data about user behaviors and the environment. Capturing IoT data in a time series insight tool means you can see when devices go down, initiate repairs and updates, and get them functioning again, sooner.

Understanding how to secure IoT data from leaks and hacking has gained attention. The IoT exposes vulnerabilities in network infrastructure, as pointed out by the US intelligence community in 2020. Protecting the IoT data transmitted complies with regulations and maintains privacy.

Understanding the Scenario:

You are a system administrator for a company that is rolling out an Internet of Things data solution. You create a time-based analytics environment for the company's data analysts. You provision an Azure Time Series Insights resource and connect it to an Azure IoT Hub. You import data and generate analyses. Finally, you will export the analyses to a Storage Account.

Configure the Azure IoT Hub:

This lab exercise gets you started using the IoT hub. You find and track the IoT primary key and event hub connection strings, for access to networked IoT data. Then you add three devices to the IoT hub. Azure's IoT hub acts as an intermediary between the individual devices and the cloud application used to receive, send, and present the data. Instead of managing tons of information from different locations, the hub directs IoT data to one spot, making it faster to retrieve and process messages more efficiently.

Provision Resources:

You customize your Storage Account by adding a container to store the IoT data. A container keeps all the IoT data in one environment, with any programs you need to access it. That way, you can separate other types of data, like a backup of your work environment, in a different container. Finally, you create a new Time Series Insights' environment, a visual and analytical data service to monitor IoT devices in real-time.

Configure Time Series Insights:

In this lab section, you ensure your user can access time-series data and initiate Azure IoT hub to track IoT events through the Time Series Insights service. A time-series tool arranges IoT data points by time, giving analysts context and identifying trends and anomalies. The tool starts capturing data upon connection to the event hub. To get the most current information, you need to either set Time Series to download IoT data within a specified time interval or press the refresh button.

Analyze the IoT Data:

In this part, you validate that your IoT hub and Time Series Insight services work. You start producing IoT device data through a web app emulator. This application acts as an actual IoT device sending messages to the Azure IoT hub as a physical device would. Then, you open the Time Series Insights service to view the simulated IoT data. You right-click on one of the devices to view the event and save it to a javascript object notation (JSON) file format. Finally, you upload this JSON file to the container you created during the Provision Resources exercise.

Summary:

This lab will get you started using Azure Time Series Insights to track and analyze IoT data. You will also learn how to set up resources, like the IoT Hub and Storage Account, to enhance your Time Series Insight experiences. This lab will teach you to:

• Provision a Time Series Insights environment.
• Connect a Time Series Insights environment to an Azure IoT Hub.
• Analyze IoT data within a Time Series Insights environment.
• Export data from a Time Series Insights environment.

Upon lab completion, you will have the necessary skills to roll out an IoT data solution.